Labour Hub › Industrial Relations Code › Sections › Section 87

Industrial Relations Code, 2020 · CHAPTER XIII — OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

Section 87: Cognizance of offences

Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last Reviewed 12 September 2026

Section 87 — Governs cognizance of offences and the rights, duties, powers or procedure expressly stated in this section. Key operative text: (1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Code, save on a complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government.

Full official textSource checked: 20 August 20260 direct Central Rule link(s)

2-minute answer

Section 87: Cognizance of offences explained with current labour-code/scheme context, eligibility or compliance steps, records to retain and official Government sources.

Current-law check: Reviewed for source/currentness on 12 September 2026. Re-check any later notification, circular, amendment, rate, deadline or portal instruction before acting.

How to use this page

Section 87: Cognizance of offences should be read with the operative Code/Scheme/Rules and the establishment or employee facts to which it applies. Coverage, wage base, service history, State overlay and commencement date can change the outcome.

Practical checklist

Confirm coverage of the establishment and employee/member before applying the provision.
Check the latest Gazette, corrigendum and portal/circular instructions for the relevant date.
Retain wage/service/member data, nominations, approvals, challans/returns and acknowledgements.
Where a State rule or establishment-specific exemption applies, document that overlay separately.

Worked use case

Example: the same employee event can produce a different compliance result if the establishment is exempt, the service period is different, or the operative rule changed after the relevant date. Record those facts before calculating the benefit or obligation.

Official-source checks

Related Finin2min guidance

Reviewed for currentness: 12 September 2026. Educational/professional reference; the controlling law, notification, order or official filing instruction prevails.

Current-law status

All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5320(E); use the current India Code consolidation because the Code also reflects the 2026 amendment/transition framework.

Primary sources

Provision / India Code ↗ · Official Act PDF ↗ · 2026 Central Rules ↗

Finin2min analysis — what the section actually does

Operative clauses

(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Code, save on a complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no court inferior to that of the Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try the offences under this Code.

Provisos, explanations & qualifications

No proviso/explanation was separately extracted from this section text.

Thresholds and timelines in the text

No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in this section text.

Actors expressly appearing in the text

Appropriate Government, Authority / officer

Full statutory text — Section 87

Official English text transcribed from the current India Code consolidation; page headers/line breaks are normalised for web reading. The Gazette/India Code PDF remains authoritative for typography, amendment footnotes and schedules.

87. Cognizance of offences.—(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under
this Code, save on a complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no
court inferior to that of the Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try the
offences under this Code.

How to apply this provision

Primary statutory test — (1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Code, save on a complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government.
Additional operative limb — (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no court inferior to that of the Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try the offences under this Code.
Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Appropriate Government, Authority / officer.

Why this is section-specific: the operative-clause, exception, threshold and cross-reference panels above are extracted from Section 87 itself rather than a generic “trigger/control/evidence” template.

Rules, forms and cross-references

Direct 2026 Central Rule mapping

None expressly mapped in the current concordance.

Forms mapped

No prescribed form is directly mapped in the current concordance.

Other sections cited in this text

None expressly mapped in the current concordance.

Related Labour Hub resources

Model Standing Orders, 2026 Labour litigation

A direct concordance is not exhaustive. Central/State jurisdiction, schemes, authority appointments, saved instruments and later notifications may change the practical route without changing the section wording.

Worked example

When an event triggers cognizance of offences, record the trigger date, competent authority, prescribed rule/form, filing or decision step, service/acknowledgement and final outcome. A statutory point to test is: “(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Code, save on a complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government.”

Illustration only; it is not statutory text or a substitute for applying the actual facts, jurisdiction, current rule/scheme and official instrument.

Q&A — Section 87

What does Section 87 of the Industrial Relations Code cover?

What is the main legal requirement or power in Section 87?

The first operative clause identified from the official text is: “(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Code, save on a complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government.” Read it with the remaining subsections and any proviso below.

Does Section 87 contain a proviso or explanation?

No standalone proviso or explanation was extracted from this section text. Check the full text below for clause-level qualifications.

What time limit, percentage or amount appears in Section 87?

No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in the official section text.

Which 2026 Central Rules are linked to Section 87?

No direct Central Rule is recorded in the current concordance. That does not exclude a relevant scheme, notification, State rule or enabling provision.

Is Section 87 currently operative?

All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5320(E); use the current India Code consolidation because the Code also reflects the 2026 amendment/transition framework.

Source & verification trail

Act: Industrial Relations Code, 2020 — official India Code PDF ↗

Central Rules: Industrial Relations (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 342(E), 8 May 2026 ↗

Official library: Ministry of Labour & Employment — Labour Codes ↗

Source check: 20 August 2026. Individual professional interpretation should be re-reviewed when the section, rules, notification, scheme, State overlay or controlling judgment changes.

Reliance note: This page is an educational legal-reference layer. Verify the current official text, the applicable Central/State rules, notifications, schemes and judicial decisions before acting on a live matter.